Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey
Chapter 1 Felix, Claudia and Blaine struggled under the weight of the massive stone dial. It had been a few days since Parcelsus had been stopped from taking control of the Warehouse and Theodosius of Bithynia's Sundail was the last to be put back into its usual place. "Jesus Christ, Claude." Blaine wheezed under the weight of the artifact. "How in the hell did you move this thing?" "Parry did it.. Sort of floated it over from the Ancient Archives." Claudia replied, her voiced equally pained. They finally reached their goal and dropped the sundial next to its worn paper tag. The only place to safely store this artifact was in a small intersection joining three different sections, apparently to prevent too much of one kind of static from building up. "Why did he need this thing anyway?" Felix questioned between gasps for breath, one hand massaging his wrist. "Surely there's got to be something more lightweight that does the same. Claudia shook her head. "No, I saw pretty much every artifact in the Warehouse while I was connected. Most of it's a blur now, but I remember this one. "Chronetic energy generator", whatever that means. Something to do with gathering time into one point. Juan would go nuts for this thing." She put a hand on the polished stone surface as she talked, and all of them failed to notice the small glow forming at the point of the dial. "I'll look it up later. "Chronetic energy" sounds made up to me." Blaine took his phone out and checked the time. "I need to get going, I have a raid in an hour and I need time to get everything ready." Claudia took her hand off the dial and brought it up for a fist-bump. "Go slay a lich for me." Blaine was about to respond when the artifact reacted. Letting loose a blinding light, the three agents were thrown back into the shelves, knocking various artifacts loose. As the light died down, anyone walking through would have suspected a storm had passed. Assorted knick-knacks littered the floor and tags were scattered across the intersection. One thing was absent though, the young Warehouse staff members had vanished. Almost a mile away in the same buiding, Juan became suddenly dizzy and managed to trip over Trai before his head cleared. 34 BC, Egypt Somehow Felix had landed himself right on the side of a pyramid. Not that he had much time to process that, as he quickly found himself sliding down a smooth stone slope. Just as he was about to reach the rough desert sands below, two very dark arms grabbed him and swung him to his feet. Looking up, he saw that the arms belonged to an equally dark skinned man, one who had an oddly cheerful smile for someone who had just seen a stranger materialize on top of the worlds most pretentious gravestone. "Careful Felik, my friend. These treasures can make life very unpredictable." The man spoke a language that certainly wasn't English. Felix couldn't make it out, but was more startled that he could clearly understand him. "Felik? I don't...what happened?" He further surprised himself by speaking the same language with impossible fluency. The strange man clapped a hand on Felix's shoulder. "You are just a little confused. It can happen after first encounters with a treasure. You touched it and then all of a sudden I find you coming down the tomb of Taharqa." The man wrapped a purple cloth around his hand and plucked a small figure from the dirt. "This little king here," he showed Felix the statuette, which seemed to be of a pharaoh and carved of limestone, "This is the the man himself. Plundered from the tomb decades ago by grave robbers. Once they took it out they understood their mistake. It's not wise to interfere with the treasures of the gods." He gave a short laugh. "The caretaker will be pleased to have this one safely stored away." He wrapped the cloth over the figure and it gave off a small red glow. Then he deposited it into a leather satchel. It was at this point Felix got a good look at what the man was wearing. A simple hooded cloak and sandals with an array of bags hanging from the inside of his robes. Felix looked at himself and saw that he was dressed similarly, though with significantly less carrying room. He put the pieces together in his head. Loose hooded clothing for a desert lifestyle, new language, pyramids present but still have limestone layer. He took a stab in the dark. "Cleopatra?" The man furrowed his brow. "What does our Queen have to do with this? Are you certain you did not hit your head up there?" Felix took a sharp breath. Warehouse 2. How the hell did I end up working for Warehouse 2? ''---'' But there's no record of me working here. Surely it would have come up during the excavation. Alternate timeline, maybe? 'Felik' and his new agent friend mounted their camels and made their way towards civilization. "We have two more stops before we can return to the Archive." He pulled a parchment from his robe and examined it carefully. "We have reports of plague in one small settlement. Very unusual, hasn't spread. And another case of several oasis popping up and fading. Normally I'd say mirage, but people have bathed before finding themselves half-buried in sand." They began traveling the vast desert in mostly silence. Well, 'Felik' was silent, but his new cowworker seemed to be full of energy. Reminds me of Artie, in a way. But Felik was barely paying attention. Thoughts and theories were swirling through his mind. Time travel. Alternate timeline? Another trick of Parry's before we got him? No, he was expecting to win. Maybe another artifact. Maybe...the sundail? "Chronetic energy" means time-travel perhaps? But then why did he need the others to get it to work? And what happened to the others? Are they somewhere here too? "Felik, are you well? You seem rather distracted today." Felik was broken from his rumination by the man speaking to him directly. 'Yes, I am fine. Just lost in thought." An idea struck him. No harm in trying to learn more about his situation. "This place we work for, it is the second of its kind, yes?" "Indeed. The first was in Roma, long before they came to our land. Why do you ask?" "Well, there are many of these treasures, and all do different wonders, correct? So is there not one that can move through the ages to stop the first from falling?" The man looked at him with curiosity and concern. "Sadly there is none. Some treasures can let one see through the gaps of time. There is a strange stone dial that was collected some years back that allows this to be so. But nothing that can change what is and has been. Why do you ask this?" Felik avoided his eyes and stared straight ahead. "No reason. Simple curiosity." The man chuckled. "It can be a tempting thought to use such things for ones own gain. But that is not our purpose. We are simply gatherers to keep these powers away from those who would seek to abuse them. it does not do to become what you hunt, so let such thoughts rest. We are appraoching our first destination, let this occupy your mind for a while." Indeed, Felik could see a stack of huts and tents gathered around the river bank they had been following. So the sundial can see through time. Maybe whatever Parry did amplified it somehow. But why here and now? And more importantly, where are the others? July 1541 AD, Turkey Claudia landed with a hard thud in the middle of a dirt road. Groaning, she propped herself on her elbows, looking around herself in confusion. "Where the frack am I now?" she wondered aloud. She heard the neigh and clopping of horse hooves approaching from behind her. "Oh, crap!" Claudia rolled out of the way, just as the horses, who were drawing a carriage, reared up and stopped. "Are you alright, miss?" a man's voice asked, with a distinct English accent. "Very sorry." Claudia picked herself off the ground and began brushing the dirt off of herself, when she noticed her attire. She was in an old-style woman's outfit. Not a dress, more like a man's work outfit made feminine. "Ugh, yeah, I'm fi-wait." she stopped, and noticed her voice. She was speaking with an English accent of her own. But this time, it wasn't faked. She looked up to the waiting carriage driver. "Uh, could you tell me where I am?" "Constantinople, miss. You new around here?" he asked. "In a way," she murmured. "Wait, Constantinople. That's where the Ottoman Empire is. Hey," she walked over to the carriage. "Would you mind taking me to the city? I'm looking for someone." "Of course, miss. Climb in, I'll take you there, free of charge." the diver snapped his reigns as Claudia climbed into the carriage, and they were off. --- 'I need to get to Warehouse 9,' Claudia thought as they entered the city. 'Pete and Myka said they met an agent who knew of time travel. She can help me.' "Nearing the city, miss." the carriage-driver called back. "Anywhere in particular you need to get to?" Claudia didn't know what to do, actually. She never bothered looking into the Warehouse files about where it was located in Constantinople. She mentally kicked herself for that. But, Myka did mention the name of the agent they met. "Do you know where Lisa da Vinci lives, by any chance?" "Oh, her," the driver answered. "I'll take you there, but I won't stay long. Her grandfather had a knack for making inventions, and I'd rather not get bludgeoned by one." "Thanks, Jeeves." Claudia called. "What?" "Nothing!" Feburary 1984 AD, London Blaine groggily woke up to the sound of a familiar British voice, "Come on now Biston. I can't do the work for both of us." Sitting up, Blaine saw...Wells? But she was in Wisconsin, and he was...this wasn't the Warehouse. "Um, Helena-" Blaine quickly stopped speaking, his voice, while his own, was more old-timey. Wells looked up from her folio, "Well, if you insist on being so formal, Barnaby, we're late for Nicholas's presentation." Getting up, he took a better look of his surroundings, if all those days Escher and Artie had made him file old Warehouse reports were right, this was...no way. "Warehouse 12?" He muttered under his breath. Standing at the door, Wells looked at him, "Is there something wrong Barnaby? You look like you've been on the wrong end of one of my brother's toasts. Honestly, I don't understand why they stuck me with you after Crowley died. Apparently Kipling doubts my skils." "It's nothing." Blaine tried to shrug off, "Wait- we're partners?" Wells sighed, "And here Nicholas said you were bright...yes, ever since Crowley died after we went after Joshua's Trumpet. Now come on, we'll be late." "Late for what?" "Nicholas claims he's found a new way for us to immobilize our foes." ---- As he followed Wells to the main area, Blaine/Barnaby was trying to figure out when he was. Okay...so I'm at Warehouse 12. Helena joined the Warehouse in 1889, month in she got Jack the Ripper. She was Bronzed in the 1900s. Hold on, she mentioned Crowley...wasn't that the guy who died in the Joshua Trumpet instrument? So that means it 1893. Why is 1893 nagging me so much? As they reached what Blaine/Barnaby assumed was the main office, he had to keep himself from fainting when he saw exactly who this 'Nicholas' was. It suddenly hit him why 1893 was important: standing in the middle of the room was Nicholas Tesla himself. 1893 was when Wells met Tesla. Wells walked over to him, "So, do you finally have the instrument that you've been bragging about, or has this just been another show of male chauvinism?" Tesla smiled as he gestured to the small box on the table, "Nonsense Helena, I brought it with me this time." Looking over to Blaine, Tesla smiled, "Ah, Barnaby, glad you could make it." Swallowing his urge to fanboy, Blaine nodded, "Of course, I wouldn't miss this for the World's Fair. Besides, it's not everyday I get to be in the presence of the two smartest people in-" He quickly tries to come up with proper term, "-British Empire. What do you have for us?" "Eager as always I see." Tesla nods as he flicks open the latch on the box, "I've been working on the transfer of electricity without the need of wires or conductive materials," Opening the case, inside laying on velvet, was a tool that Blaine had become familiar with since he began working at the Warehouse, but unlike others, this was special. This was the original Tesla gun.